Will be interesting to see where this all goes and if Cleary can win his first Premiership at the Tigers... Not many NRL Coaches survive 10 years without winning one, so this could spur him on to deliver.

Matthew Elliot, Graham Murray & Brian Smith are the only ones I can think have survived past 10 years as an NRL Coach since I have been around?

"Did someone buy you the internet hero play book for Christmas and you've only just started reading it?" - Nelson 21/04/2017

One player to lead us all - Aloiai - Lord of The Tigers in 2018 He will be awesome.

I trend to agree with you. He looked so dangerous on the edge once Cleary had a bit of time and was or best at the back end of the season. He turned into the powerful hole runner that we have been crying out for.

They've been handed one of the toughest starts to a draw in NRL history but Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary had a simple response upon his return to the club following kidney surgery; bring it on.

Cleary has endured a challenging eight-week break over the off-season with the mentor donating a kidney to brother Ash, who is battling illness.

While he is understandably yet to speak publicly about the family ordeal, the 46-year-old chose to focus on the difficult six-week period to start in 2018 as the club prepares to enter a new era.

The joint venture will meet premiers Melbourne twice and the Roosters, Broncos and Eels all once in the opening five rounds, followed by finalists Manly in Round 6.

With a large turnover of players for 2018, Cleary admitted combinations are expected to take time, but facing a tough start presents the side an early challenge to switch on early.

"What you get though is what you get, I actually don't mind it," Cleary said of the draw.

"We've got the top four teams five times in the first five weeks and then Manly after that so it's certainly a real challenge straight off the bat, and that has ups and downs.

"I think the first six weeks are pretty much the most even it is all year when teams are still trying to work themselves out, and after that you have a bit more of an idea.

"It's going to be a great thing to look forward to, we've got to be ready to go from Round 1, and it's a good chance to get some real confidence in those opening weeks.

"It's also a good chance to knock a few of them off too. I see it as a positive"

The loss of fullback James Tedesco and recruitment of Australian halfback Cooper Cronk to the Roosters has lit up social media in recent months – moves that are set to take the focus away from Cleary's line-up in the opening round, who have a less than ideal record against the Tricolours.

"The NRL is a competitive beast," Cleary said.

"There's not a lot between the best and the rest.

"But at the end of the day, it's about producing 80-minute performances that look and feel the same each week and that's where we want to try and get to."

Cleary expects a strong core of players back to pre-season training next week including new recruits Josh Reynolds and Ben Matulino.

Returning club legend Benji Marshall is expected to feature by late November.

"Pre-season is a really good chance to actually start from the start," he said.

"It gives us a chance to get some traction in to not just how we want to play the game but also the ways in which we want to try and grow the culture here.

"The grind of pre-season isn't easy, particularly for young players, but it can really set you up mentally for the year ahead but also a lot in the future as well.

"They'll go through some hard times together and we'll know more with how we're looking by February."

Ivan "Billy Beane from Moneyball" Cleary!
It's the Ivan of the tiger, It's the thrill of the fight...

Will be interesting to see where this all goes and if Cleary can win his first Premiership at the Tigers... Not many NRL Coaches survive 10 years without winning one, so this could spur him on to deliver.

Matthew Elliot, Graham Murray & Brian Smith are the only ones I can think have survived past 10 years as an NRL Coach since I have been around?

Don Furner, Daniel Anderson, Bob Fulton. Neil Henry is coming on 8 or 9 years? Nathan Brown as well, longer if you take the time from his first to his most recent.

Judgement will now be performance based.. Ivan has had everything in his favour and recruited reasonably well...no excuses for a non competative season...

I disagree and this was the point I was making earlier. Fans think Ivan is the messiah and will deliver the promised land with immediacy. He has a ragtag squad to mold first and they need time to gel. He has a long road ahead and performance wise I'd be looking at the review of season 2019 for judgement.

I do agree there seems to be quite a few who think coach is the best thing since sliced bread, based on some improvement onfield and also probably more due to recruitment... It's all a bit presumptious just yet

Will be interesting to see where this all goes and if Cleary can win his first Premiership at the Tigers... Not many NRL Coaches survive 10 years without winning one, so this could spur him on to deliver.

Matthew Elliot, Graham Murray & Brian Smith are the only ones I can think have survived past 10 years as an NRL Coach since I have been around?

Don Furner, Daniel Anderson, Bob Fulton. Neil Henry is coming on 8 or 9 years? Nathan Brown as well, longer if you take the time from his first to his most recent.

I would add Ricky to that list even though he got one at the Rorters...he has left every Club he has been at worse off..

Ivan's Laws

1. You are either on the Bus or you are off..
2. The Star of the Team is the Team
3. Be the player your teammates want to play with..

Judgement will now be performance based.. Ivan has had everything in his favour and recruited reasonably well...no excuses for a non competative season...

I disagree and this was the point I was making earlier. Fans think Ivan is the messiah and will deliver the promised land with immediacy. He has a ragtag squad to mold first and they need time to gel. He has a long road ahead and performance wise I'd be looking at the review of season 2019 for judgement.

I agree with both of you. He will be judged this coming year and the next. Once JT was moved on, where we finished wasn't as important for me, it was the improvement I was looking for, in structure and performance and for my mind he delivered. He is not the messiah, he is just a very naughty boy (sorry couldn't help myself). But he isn't the messiah, he is the only coach since Sheens that I personally have been excited about and the best of those that were available.

Judgement will now be performance based.. Ivan has had everything in his favour and recruited reasonably well...no excuses for a non competative season...

I disagree and this was the point I was making earlier. Fans think Ivan is the messiah and will deliver the promised land with immediacy. He has a ragtag squad to mold first and they need time to gel. He has a long road ahead and performance wise I'd be looking at the review of season 2019 for judgement.

I agree with both of you. He will be judged this coming year and the next. Once JT was moved on, where we finished wasn't as important for me, it was the improvement I was looking for, in structure and performance and for my mind he delivered. He is not the messiah, he is just a very naughty boy (sorry couldn't help myself). But he isn't the messiah, he is the only coach since Sheens that I personally have been excited about and the best of those that were available.

I do agree there seems to be quite a few who think coach is the best thing since sliced bread, based on some improvement onfield and also probably more due to recruitment... It's all a bit presumptious just yet

He has a proven ability to turn clubs around, has a good way with players who respect him and want to play for him. We have signed players who would not have given us a thought except for Cleary. More importantly, he portrays a positive image for the club and his engagement with the press is always positive. This is in contrast to our last coach whom I saw on tv a night or so ago attempting to evade journalists which wasn't a particularly good look for the Roosters.

Will be interesting to see where this all goes and if Cleary can win his first Premiership at the Tigers... Not many NRL Coaches survive 10 years without winning one, so this could spur him on to deliver.

Matthew Elliot, Graham Murray & Brian Smith are the only ones I can think have survived past 10 years as an NRL Coach since I have been around?

Don Furner, Daniel Anderson, Bob Fulton. Neil Henry is coming on 8 or 9 years? Nathan Brown as well, longer if you take the time from his first to his most recent.

I would add Ricky to that list even though he got one at the Rorters...he has left every Club he has been at worse off..

None of those coached more than 10 seasons without winning a premiership...

"Did someone buy you the internet hero play book for Christmas and you've only just started reading it?" - Nelson 21/04/2017

Will be interesting to see where this all goes and if Cleary can win his first Premiership at the Tigers... Not many NRL Coaches survive 10 years without winning one, so this could spur him on to deliver.

Matthew Elliot, Graham Murray & Brian Smith are the only ones I can think have survived past 10 years as an NRL Coach since I have been around?

I do agree there seems to be quite a few who think coach is the best thing since sliced bread, based on some improvement onfield and also probably more due to recruitment... It's all a bit presumptious just yet

He has a proven ability to turn clubs around, has a good way with players who respect him and want to play for him. We have signed players who would not have given us a thought except for Cleary. More importantly, he portrays a positive image for the club and his engagement with the press is always positive. This is in contrast to our last coach whom I saw on tv a night or so ago attempting to evade journalists which wasn't a particularly good look for the Roosters.

That's all nice, warm and fuzzy... But he hasn't gotten us to the finals yet, if he does that 2 or 3 seasons in a row I might just call him a messiah as well

Will be interesting to see where this all goes and if Cleary can win his first Premiership at the Tigers... Not many NRL Coaches survive 10 years without winning one, so this could spur him on to deliver.

Matthew Elliot, Graham Murray & Brian Smith are the only ones I can think have survived past 10 years as an NRL Coach since I have been around?